Part IV:

Healing

Gohan sat with Videl on a couch, Pan napping away on her lap.

His bowed head snapped up and he took in the blood, dirt, and rips on my gi and his expectant gaze met mine.

I answered Gohan's unspoken question with a stiff nod, and he returned it.

Picking a seat across from him, I had just opened my mouth to ask about Goten when the phone rang and Gohan lunged for it.

"Hello?"

My sharp hearing picked out someone with a frantic tone, but not well enough to know exactly what he said. I had a good guess who was calling. And what he needed to know had to be said in person.

I took a deep breath and touched two fingers to my forehead as I locked onto Ox King's erratic, unstable energy and found myself in his study, the phone still at his ear, and Ox King himself seated at his large desk.

He gasped when he saw me and jumped up, words tumbling out of his mouth almost faster than I could keep up with. "Goku!" He looked me up and down. "You look like you've been through hell, son! What's going on!? Where's Chichi? I tried calling her yesterday and today, but the call wont go through! I thought maybe she was just busy yesterday, but I can't shake this awful feeling something's… happened to her. She's okay… right?"

My nails dug into my palms as I stared at the floor for a moment and then into his wide eyes.

I shook my head.

His mouth fell open with a shocked gasp and was followed by the crunch of plastic as the phone broke apart in his trembling grip, crushed beyond recognition, tiny pieces of plastic, metal, and glass clattering to his desk.

In a flash, he was in front of me with a speed I didn't know he had in him, my shoulders gripped by his trembling hands – his every word punctuated with a breath through clenched teeth. "Goku. What. Happened. To. My. DAUGHTER!?"

I was… almost scared of him in his state – never mind that I was a Saiyan and he was human. In front of me towered a man who had just lost his daughter. And it was suddenly easy to imagine why people were so afraid of him long ago.

My voice having lost all volume, I breathed out as I looked into his bloodshot eyes, "She and Goten were attacked at our home by one of my enemies."

He gasped as his anger deflated and he dropped heavily onto his desk, the wood creaking. "G-Goten… he was involved in this, too?"

"Yes. But Goten is fine. He was hurt but he's fine now."

"And Gohan… His family…?"

"They weren't involved in the fight."

He stood up off his desk. "L-let me get s-some things together and then t-take me to them."

He left the room and returned a few minutes later with a small, messily packed suitcase and grabbed his coat from the rack in the corner of the study.

He nodded to let me know he was ready and grabbed my shoulder as I touched two fingers to my forehead. He knew the drill.

When we arrived, Gohan was pacing in his living room, the phone still in his hand.

In a few quick strides, he reached us. "Grandpa!"

Ox King pulled Gohan in for a tight bear hug and held him.

I took the chance to go find Goten.

I followed his energy to the edge of Gohan's property. He sat trembling on a bench, his chin rested in his hand and his elbow braced on his knee.

I knelt in front of him and brushed away the tears coating his cheeks. He didn't seem to have noticed me because his eyes flew wide open at my touch and met mine for just a moment before staring down at his other hand clenched in his lap.

I blew out a breath. "Goten, I–"

"I was really mad at first when I woke up. But Gohan told me that you only did it to keep me safe."

I nodded. "Your brother is absolutely right. Goten, I almost lost you once. I wasn't going to lose you again. And if Black killed you there in the future, that would be… it. You couldn't be wished back. We'd never see you again."

Goten looked like that was news to him, his eyes a little bit wide. "Really? The Dragon Balls are gone in that time?"

"Yes. They are."

He frowned down at the ground quietly for quite a while until he whispered, "It's only been a day but… I miss her, Dad."

I closed my eyes for a moment and blew out a breath. "I do, too, Goten. I do, too."

He dove into me and pressed his little body into my chest and I wrapped my arms around him. Holding Goten, I stood up and headed inside.

Ox King got up from his seat on the couch next to Gohan and walked up to us. "Goten…"

He twisted around in my arms, but kept his grip on my gi top, and whispered, "Hi, Grandpa."

"Hey, champ."

Ox King leveled his gaze on me. "Goku… tell me exactly what happened and who… I need to know who took her from us."

He pressed me for every last detail – the others listening intently as I explained to him what I knew of Black's and Zamasu's history, their motivations, and everything that led up to her death. Disgust quickly gave way to anger; anger to hatred and finally tears when I when I told them about how she saved Goten at the very last second before Black took her life.

When I reached the battle, my family knew I showed her killers no mercy. It was the closure they needed. Closure I needed.

We never, ever wanted to hear their names again.

Goten trembled in my arms and let out a soft, hiccupping sob.

Ox King reached out and rubbed his back but looked at me, concern in his eyes. "You… you look exhausted, son. The day is still young. Why don't you get some rest first?"

I shook my head as I stood straight. "I have more than enough energy to get us to New Planet Namek and back. I'll be fine."

I had kept her waiting more than enough. Besides, there would be time for sleep later.

I touched two fingers to my forehead and waited for everyone to grab on.

Gohan held his arms out for Goten and pointedly looked me up and down.

I glanced down at myself.

A strip of fabric over my shoulder a couple inches wide was all that kept it on – what little there was left soaked in blood, sweat, and caked with mud and pulverized concrete.

I patted Goten's back to get his attention. "Hey, buddy. I need to go get cleaned up but it'll only be a few minutes until I get back. And then we can go get your mother back."

He lifted his tear-streaked face off my chest and nodded as he reached for his brother.

Once down the hall, stepped into our bedroom and grabbed a fresh gi I kept there and into the bathroom. I pulled off what was left of my gi and that tiny piece of yellow fabric fluttered to the floor. I picked it up, the little bit of fabric finally falling apart in my fingers, yellow fibers drifting to the floor.

As singed as it was, I was surprised it had lasted through the battle.

Like I had with Goten's gi the night before, I vaporized the bloody, dirty rags with a little energy. Tapping into my power even just for that revealed how little I really had. The Evil Containment Wave that trapped him and all that practice the day before took a lot more out of me than I thought.

I ran the shower and stepped into the hot water, letting it work out the aches and soothe my pounding head and started scrubbing, the sudsy water running red-brown.

None of that held a candle to what I felt inside.

I missed her smile. Her eyes. Her laugh. Her temper. Her smell. The feel of her hair when she let it down only for me. The sound of her voice and how she hummed when she was happy. The warmth of her energy. I missed everything about her.

And it hurt.

I had experienced every bone in my body broken – even the pain of death when I died with Raditz. I knew what pain was. Pain wasn't anything new to me – at least not the physical kind.

In that awful moment, my heart was shattered, a part of it going with her. That pain… the sheer power of that feeling was so different. And… worse.

It was a crushing, constricting weight that made even breathing difficult. A pain so intense it really was physical. So that was what they called a broken heart.

And only one thing would fix it. Only one thing would make me whole again. It was time to get her back.

I turned off the water and stepped out. Raising what was left of my energy, the heat I put off dried me quickly and I pulled on the fresh, clean gi as well as my boots.

My senses guided me outside where everyone waited in Gohan's garden.

Flowers. That sounded like a good idea.

Goten ran up to me, grinning excitedly and a little teary. "Can we go pick some flowers for Mom?"

I nodded down at him, smiling, too. "You read my mind, champ."

He jumped into the air, hovering a little above us. "Then let's go!"

I lifted into the air, too. "Do you know where to find your mother's favorite flowers?"

"Yeah!"

Gohan lifted into the air and handed Goten some huge red roses. "Add these to the bunch."

Goten grinned wider. "Hey, yeah! Mom likes roses!" He looked at me. "Let's go, Dad!"

Gohan landed and shouted up to us, "I'll be here when you get back!"

Goten and I nodded and rocketed away.

Goten kicked in Super Saiyan. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

I laughed and that felt good. I jumped into Super Saiyan and easily caught up with him.

Moving as fast as we were, the flight to our mountain only took a few minutes and then the wildflower field came into view – as did some of the damage to the forest from the short battle and I rubbed a hand over my chest.

"I see the flowers, Dad!"

My attention snapped to Goten who had just landed in the middle of the field and I followed him down.

We set to work picking all kinds of flowers. She really liked all the different colors but there was a particular kind of bright yellow one she seemed to really like, sometimes gently running her fingers over their delicate petals when I brought them home to her. She didn't touch the others quite like that.

There were more of her favorite yellow ones growing than any other. After Goten and I picked good-sized handfuls, we combined them into one big bunch. We had dark red roses from Gohan's garden, her favorite yellow ones, plus a lot of pink, purple, and blue flowers of all kinds of shapes and sizes and smells – smells that were a little overwhelming to my nose when all together like that.

I sneezed and Goten giggled.

I handed the bunch to him. "Think this is enough, Goten?"

He nodded, grinning. "I think Mom'll like these a lot!"

"I think she will, too. Let's go back to Gohan's."

"We all go get Mom together, right Dad?"

I rubbed his head, smiling at him. "Of course, Goten."

Keeping my hand on his head as he carefully held onto the flowers, I touched two fingers to my forehead and made the jump to Gohan and the others.

Ox King, Videl with Pan in her arms, Gohan, and Goten all linked hands and Goten grabbed mine.

"We have one stop we need to make before we can go to New Namek. We need to see Bulma."

Locking onto Bulma's energy, we found her in the lab with the time machine and hunched over a computer attached to it by long cables and Vegeta watching her from a corner.

I explained what we needed. After a few minutes of searching, she handed me the radar and gave me a hug with a tearful, "Good luck, Goku."

"Thanks, Bulma."

With that, I stuck the radar in my pocket and concentrated on Elder Moori's ki. We were on New Namek in an instant and just outside a large dwelling.

Elder Moori walked out and smiled in surprise at our small group. "Ah! Goku! And family! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here on this fine day?"

I glanced at our group and back at him. "Someone very special was… taken from us just yesterday and we'd like to use your Dragon Balls to bring her back since Shenron can't do it."

"Of course, Goku! Anything you need. However, you know it'll take some time to gather the Dragon Balls."

I smiled. "Thanks, Elder Moori." And held up the radar. "No, it won't."

I clicked the button and it came to life with a beep, seven blips scattered all over the planet blinking on the screen and everyone who could fly took off to search.

The Namekians helped look, too. Elder Moori explained that word travelled quickly thanks to the telepathy of their kind.

About five hours after we arrived, all seven Dragon Balls were pulsating with light on the ground at Elder Moori's feet in the middle of their village square and ready to be used.

I had almost forgotten how big the Namekian Dragon Balls were.

Elder Moori walked around the circle and up to us, his face serious. "Are you ready, Son Goku?"

My boys and I exchanged hopeful smiles and all nodded our heads.

Elder Moori nodded once and turned to the Dragon Balls. He extended his hands out over them and summoned Porunga in his native language.

Just like on Earth, the sky went dark as night and loud clashes of thunder and dazzling flashes of lightning tore through the sky as one particularly large bolt struck the Dragon Balls and surged high up into the air. What started as a massive, thick bolt lightning attached to the Dragon Balls quickly took the shape of Porunga himself – a dragon even larger than Shenron.

"WHY HAVE YOU AWAKENED ME FROM MY SLUMBER? SPEAK NOW SO THAT I MAY GRANT YOU THREE WISHES."

His deep, ancient voice reverberated through the ground and into my very bones. Goten cringed and scooted behind my leg. I put my hand on his head. He had nothing to be afraid of. Pan cried and her parents comforted her.

Elder Moori turned to us. "Porunga will only grant wishes spoken in the Namekian tongue. Tell me each of your wishes and I will translate."

I nodded and glanced at Gohan. "Please restore our home to how it was before Black destroyed it."

He nodded once and looked up at Porunga and repeated our wish in the Namekian language.

Porunga's eyes glowed red for several moments. "It is done. Your home has been restored."

The boys and I exchanged looks. She would need a place to return to when it was time to wish her back.

Elder Moori looked to me for the second wish.

"Please do the same for the surrounding forest."

Like before, his eyes glowed red once again. "It is done. The forest has been made pristine."

I wanted to wipe all traces of Black from our home and mountain, but didn't think I'd have the words to do that if I had asked for her back first.

But, it was finally time.

"You have one last wish remaining."

I took a deep breath as Gohan's hand gripped my shoulder tight. "Please revive my wife, Son Chichi."

Again, Elder Moori translated.

Porunga's eyes glowed red. "Son Chichi has been revived at the place of her death."

Goten cheered and Gohan laughed.

Tears gathered in my eyes. "Thank you, Porunga!"

He understood that and nodded once. I could have sworn he even smiled at me.

"I have fulfilled your wishes. Until we meet again."

His shape melted into that thick, blindingly bright lightning bolt and it vanished as the Dragon Balls rose up into the sky and shot away in seven different directions.

She was back. She was at home waiting for us.

I looked at Elder Moori and at the small crowd of Namekians. "Thank you."

Elder Moori smiled at me. "I am happy to help, Son Goku."

I looked down at Goten and returned his bright smile. "Ready to go home, buddy?"

He cheered again. "Yeah!"

I touched two fingers to my forehead and locked onto her warm energy, taking just a moment to let her essence wash over me. She was at first disoriented and then overjoyed. I smiled.

I glanced over both my shoulders to make sure everyone was connected. Gohan had his hand on my shoulder and his other arm around Videl's shoulders, baby Pan in her arms. Ox King's giant hand was on my other shoulder and Goten was attached to my leg.

I knew exactly where I was before I opened my eyes, the smells hitting me first. No acrid bite to the air from ki blasts. No burning smells. No smoke. Only the fresh smells of the forest and healthy trees. And the smell of a fire burning in our fireplace.

The familiar creak of our front door and I turned around to see her standing there, smiling up at me, and that missing piece fell into place, leaving my heart ready to burst.

Goten reached her first with a loud squeal of "MOMMY!" and knocked her to the ground with a resounding thud. She laughed and laughed.

I chuckled.

Gohan got to her next and pulled her to her feet and hugged her tight.

Ox King walked up to her and lifted all three of them off their feet in a huge bear hug and she giggled again.

Videl went forward and hugged her as well. Baby Pan didn't really understand just what was going on, but she was happy to see her grandma and dove into her arms. Chichi giggled and kissed her before passing Pan back to Videl and Ox King took everyone inside our house and shut the door.

And then it was just her and me.

I couldn't take it anymore. I ran to her and scooped her up, lifting her off her feet. She laughed and so did I. Until my laughter caught in my throat when I breathed her in with my nose buried deep in her shoulder, my eyes burning.

I pulled my head back just enough to press my trembling lips to hers for several long seconds as tears escaped and rolled down my cheeks. Her arms tightened around me, squeezing me together.

When our kiss was over, I looked into her dark, teary eyes sparkling an inch from mine. "I missed you so much. I love you, Chichi."

She smiled gently and brushed the back of her small hand across my cheeks, wiping away my tears. "Oh, my sweet Goku. I love you, too."

Her smile. The kind of smile she wore only when we were alone together. I couldn't get enough of it. Her sparkling, teary eyes as she brushed her nose against mine. The feel of her soft skin. The slight flush in her cheeks when I kissed her again. Her smell when I buried my nose in her hair. Taking my time, I soaked in every single one of those little things that made Chichi… Chichi.

Everyone chatted happily and turned their smiling faces on us as we walked in, hand in hand.

Ox King's eyes darted from our faces to our joined hands and back to our faces, his smile wide. "I took the liberty of getting going on dinner, Chichi. Hope you don't mind. Now, why don't you and Goku sit down and relax."

Chichi gasped, her hand loosening in mine. "Papa! That's a huge amount to cook alone! Let me help!"

My hand tightened around hers.

All that talk of food made my stomach unleash a loud roar as I realized just how little I ate after Chichi was… taken from us. Everyone was silent and then burst out laughing – Chichi's laugh ringing the clearest over everyone. I rubbed the back of my neck with my free hand as a little bit of heat spread across my cheeks.

When the laughter died down, Ox King pointed to the couch. "Now, sit! Let me cook for us."

She smiled back. "Thank you, Papa."

Room was made for us on our sofa, the boys moving to the floor. We sat down and I put an arm around her shoulders as Goten jumped into her lap and Gohan smiled up at her.

Goten nuzzled into her. "I love you, Mom."

She smiled, her arms wrapping around Goten. "I love you, too."

Gohan scooted closer to her. "Welcome back, Mom. We missed you a lot."

She reached out and put her hand to Gohan's cheek. "I missed my boys so much."

We laughed, we talked, and ate every bit of the massive, delicious smorgasbord Ox King cooked for us and then cleaned up and laughed and talked some more well into the night. Eventually, Gohan took his family home.

As Gohan and his family walked out the door, Ox King decided to leave next.

I leaned forward on the couch, about to get up. "Need a lift, Ox King?"

He shook his head as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a capsule. "I'm fine, Goku, but thank you. I have my car right here."

I nodded and smiled.

Chichi waved. "Bye, Papa. Drive safe."

He waved back to her. "I'll be fine, my dear."

With that, he stepped out the door.

Goten had drifted off for the night in Chichi's lap and was out cold. Seeing Goten like that, I yawned widely – suddenly realizing just how worn out I was.

Chichi looked at me and gasped as her hand went to my cheek. "Oh, Goku! You look absolutely exhausted – more tired than you did even after the fight with Majin Buu. Did you get any sleep at all?"

I smiled and reached up to put my hand on hers. "Don't worry about me, Chi. I'm just fine."

I really was since she was back.

She didn't look like she bought it but her pretty face softened into a tender smile – but I didn't miss the slight arch of her left eyebrow. "Let me tidy up and then let's go to bed."

I chuckled quietly. "Okay."

Her smile widened and I helped her up from her seat with Goten in her arms and we went down the hall. She put him in his bed and he never even stirred as Chichi pulled the covers over him.

Once Goten was settled, Chichi went about her normal evening routine humming softly and fluffing the sofa cushions, wiping down the counters, sweeping the floor, all the usual stuff while I leaned against the kitchen doorframe. Like nothing had ever changed. Like she hadn't been… gone… just hours before.

She opened the kitchen window, the cool breeze blowing in the smells of our quiet mountain.

At least it was quiet.

I had always thought she'd be safe there. I took it for granted that she would be. But then she wasn't. My worst fear became reality when one of my enemies found my family. I had a lot of nightmares before of my enemies finding her and killing her and Gohan and Goten. And then it actually happened. For the first time, an enemy singled out my family.

She touched my arm as she walked by me and headed down the hall. I followed after her. I closed our bedroom door behind me and sat down at the foot of our bed. She changed into a light purple nightgown and ran her brush through her hair.

She walked up to me, smiling lovingly.

I reached up and ran my fingers through her beautiful dark hair and she leaned down and kissed me, that one deep and lingering.

She sat down on my lap and nuzzled her face into my shoulder with a small sigh – her breath tickling the crook of my neck – and I wrapped my arms around her.

I missed her so much those seven years I spent in Other World – time that flew by for me. I didn't even know seven years passed on Earth until King Kai told me. And then things were reversed for over twenty-four hours.

Twenty-four long, painful hours.

If hours hurt that badly…

I pressed my lips into her temple, my eyes burning again. "I'm… so sorry for making you live without me for seven whole years. I can't do this life without you, Chichi. I love you."

She pulled back but didn't say anything, instead pressing her lips to mine, her thumb brushing over my cheek to catch the tear rolling down it.

I was relieved I didn't have to try.